Prosecutor says 2010 attack in Niskayuna a reprehensible act

Updated 7:50 am, Thursday, May 3, 2012

NISKAYUNA — A Niskayuna man convicted of befriending and then raping a woman near Town Hall was sentenced to 20 years in prison for what the prosecutor described as a reprehensible crime.

Abel Melendez Jr. also pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted burglary for unrelated incidents for which he was sentenced to three years behind bars, according to Assistant District Attorney Christina Tremante-Pelham. That penalty will run consecutive to the 20 years for the sexual assault for a total of 23 years, she said.

The defendant admitted to trying to break into a Schenectady home and separately burglarizing the Schenectady Little League a few weeks after the sexual assault, the prosecutor said.

"There are few things more frightening and reprehensible than pulling a stranger off the street and raping her," Tremante-Pelham said afterward. She noted that the defendant has refused to take responsibility for his actions. His attorney Mark Juda said Wednesday that Melendez maintains that the sex was consensual. Melendez did not speak during the sentencing.

The sentence also calls for 20 years of post-release supervision, Tremante-Pelham said.

In March, a jury found Melendez guilty of raping the woman during the early hours of Oct. 16, 2010. At the time, both of them were 21 years old.

The defendant stole the victim's cellphone and used it to send vulgar text messages to two of her friends. The phone messages and DNA evidence were pivotal in the case against Melendez, Tremante-Pelham said.

The victim did not know Melendez before the attack, which occurred after he befriended her as she walked home from socializing with her friends.

Melendez rode alongside the victim on a bicycle and talked casually with her before hopping off his bike and attacking her between two buildings near the intersection of Balltown Road and Nott Street near Town Hall.